The present invention relates to a wire connector.
Wire connectors are simple electrical connectors which receive twisted conductors and hold same together in twisted formation. Many wire connectors employ helical spring wire inserts whose coils act as threads which draw bare wire into the connector and further to assure good electrical connection. These most commonly have a helix rigidly set in a cavity in a plastic cap. The insert cuts a helical path in the conductors which serves to retain the conductors in the connector; however, there is no resilient spring force on the wires. Such wire connectors are only suitable for a limited range of wire sizes.
The advantages of a helical spring fit with some clearance in an insulating cap are recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,624, which discloses a helix which may expand within certain limits. This not only permits accommodating a wider range of wire sizes but aids in resilient gripping of the wires. The helix is biconical in shape so that only the larger convolutions at the inner end of the spring engage the walls of the bore in the cap when the helix is threaded therein. Any pulling of wires twisted into the helix causes it to grip the wires more strongly since the effective diameter of the helix in the wire gripping area decreases in the fashion of novelty finger handcuffs. Such a decrease at the large convolutions at the inner end of the spring could cause it to pull free of the cap. Further, a reverse twist on the wires could cause the helix to thread out of the cap.
A wire connector employing the above described principle of resiliency which would lend itself readily to automated manufacture and provide a practically irreversible twisted wire termination would be desirable.